Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.5.24
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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diṣṭyā
—
by great fortune
Repeated from verse 23. Vasudeva uses the same word for his own fortune (in seeing Nanda) as he used for Nanda's (in receiving a son) — Vaiṣṇava humility reads both as gifts of the Lord, not personal achievements.
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saṁsāra-cakre asmin
—
in this wheel of birth and death
Saṁsāra + cakra + asmin ('in this'). The technical term for the round of birth and death. Locative case — 'within this wheel.' Vasudeva names their situation honestly: even great souls are within saṁsāra-cakra, and Vaiṣṇava-saṅga inside the wheel is the rare gift.
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punaḥ-bhavaḥ
—
another birth
Punaḥ ('again') + bhava ('becoming, birth'). Vasudeva names the reunion as a 'new birth' — a beautiful Vaiṣṇava reframing of meeting after long separation. Each true darśana of a devotee is a rebirth into bhakti's atmosphere.
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durlabham
—
very rare, hard to obtain
Dur + labha ('hard to attain'). The same word the Gītā uses for self-realization (BG 7.3, BG 7.19). Vaiṣṇava-saṅga in saṁsāra is named with the language usually reserved for liberation.
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priya-darśanam
—
the sight of one dear
Priya + darśana. Darśana is again technical — the meeting of devotees and of devotee with deity. The whole phrase glosses what makes the reunion 'another birth': it is darśana of priya, the form of sight that constitutes Vaiṣṇava relationship.
Vasudeva had been imprisoned by Kaṁsa, and therefore, although present in Mathurā, he was unable to see Nanda Mahārāja for many years. Therefore when they met again, Vasudeva considered this meeting to be another birth.
"Because I have today met you, by good fortunate, I have again taken birth in this world . Before this time, not meeting you, my life is like death."
By good fortune I can meet you today, because to see dear friends is very rare. “It is not rare to see me, since I am under your control.” You seem to have been born again. “How is this?” You are existing in the wheel of saṁsāra, where death is always possible. The sentiment here is aniṣṭhāśaṅkīnīva bandhu-hṛdayāni: a relative or intimate friend is always fearful of some injury to his beloved. (Abhijṣāna-śakuntalā-nāṭaka) Or, existing in the wheel of saṁsāra, it is as if you are reborn in the form of your son, caused by his birth. That is your good fortune. It is rare to see dear friends, what to speak of seeing you filled with such bliss. Or it is fortune somehow in this wheel of saṁsāra, for I have taken birth again because of seeing you today, which is rare.
You are existing in the wheel of saṁsāra, where death is always possible. The sentiment here is aniṣṭhāśaṅkīnīva bandhu-hṛdayāni: a relative or intimate friend is always fearful of some injury to his beloved. (Abhijṣāna-śakuntalā-nāṭaka) Or though you exist in this wheel of saṁsāra, suddenly filled with sorrow for children or wife, it is good fortune to meet you today, when you have been born again as your son, for it is rare to see dear ones. Or It is good fortunate that, though in the wheel of saṁsāra, you are as if reborn because you have attained seeing a dear son which is rare in old age. Or though I exist in the wheel of saṁsāra, by good fortunate I am as if reborn because you, my dear friend, have attained sight of a dear son, which is rare.
- Reach out today to one devotee or sādhu-saṅga friend you have lost touch with, and treat the meeting as a second birth.
- Refuse to take the presence of intimate, Kṛṣṇa-conscious relationships for granted — name three by name and thank Kṛṣṇa for each.
- Notice when saṁsāra's wheel has kept you 'imprisoned' from association, and carve out one concrete hour this week for darśana or satsaṅga.
Two ships meet on a stormy sea after years of separate journeys — the meeting is itself a kind of rebirth, a port snatched from the wind. Vasudeva calling this meeting punaḥ-bhava ('another birth') names the rare value of Vaiṣṇava-saṅga in this world: where it happens, it is a new birth.
In Bhāgavatam 3.5, Vidura — returning from his long pilgrimage after the family quarrel — meets the sage Maitreya at the banks of the Yamunā. Vidura's first words name the meeting as a great fortune in the cycle of saṁsāra, almost the same language Vasudeva uses to Nanda here.
The Gauḍīya teaching draws on both passages: in saṁsāra-cakra, the meeting of devotees is more rare than birth in a good family, more rare than wealth, more rare than knowledge. When it happens, it is to be honored as the punaḥ-bhava of the soul into devotional company.
My note
Source: vedabase.io